Freelancing is a competitive business, especially in today’s fast-paced, e-focused world.

Often there are hundreds of writers competing for the same, limited number of assignments, and the writer who can best showcase his or her abilities is the one who lands the job.

Editors, however, are very busy people, and don’t have the time nor the inclination to sift through the hundreds of resumes and clips they receive in search of your information. If your credits and clips are not right there on an editor’s desk, or available with a single click of the mouse, that plumb assignment is going to go to the writer who managed to catch the editor’s eye; even if you’re the better writer for the job.

So, how do you get your writing clips into the hands of the editors looking for writers? Easy, with your own online resume!

A personal site has become a must for today’s freelancer, but successful writers know that they need to do more than simply paste their picture out on the Internet, or send off their email address along with their snail mail query.

What’s needed is a site that showcases your entire writing resume, including:

• Bio
• Publishing history
• Writing-related job history
• All published credits
• Specialty or genre
• Easily accessible and visually attractive clips, whether scanned or in document form

An editor is then able to access all of your information at once, instead of being forced to slog through link after link looking for work that is spread out over twelve different sites, six of which no longer exist. With everything in one place, an editor is also more able to get a feel for your abilities and range.

In addition, a professional-looking site – one that features your published writing, not pictures of your dog and boyfriend along with your latest Ebay stats – will prove to an editor that you’re on the ball, that you take your writing seriously. In turn the editor will take you more seriously.

Even freelancers with very little computer knowledge can set up a website; check with your Internet service provider to find out how to start your own (often free) site. Or, if you have some knowledge of HTML or are willing to learn, you may be able to set up your own site. There are also many web-design companies that will set you up for a fee.

If you decide to go with a web-design company, here are a few important things to consider:

What are the total costs? Be sure to read the fine print, otherwise your bill may be higher than you’d intended.

Is maintenance included? If so, how much does it cost and what is the turnaround time?

How many pages are you allowed? Some budget companies only offer six or so pages, which is hardly enough to showcase your clips.

Do they work with writers? Web-design services that cater to exotic dancers or widget-sellers may not know much about a freelancer’s needs.

Whichever method you choose, get your resume and clips online today and start wowing editors and making sales tomorrow!

This article was posted on March 01, 2004